Airsoft marking round

ABSTRACT

A spherical pellet marking round for gas propelled guns, such as airsoft electric guns and gas blow back guns, allows a user or military/law enforcement trainees to actually view a mark when they hit their opponent. The marking round is heavier than conventional gas propelled gun rounds, allowing for more reliable breaking on target. The marking round has a hard, brittle shell and is sized for the gun or rifle type. The marking round can include colored marking material, ultraviolet, infrared, forward looking infrared (FLIR) and luminous “glow-in-the-dark” shells for tracer versions. An oversized wedge can be used in production that allows for heavier weighted fill material to be used.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to gas propelled gun accessories and, more particularly, to spherical pellet marking rounds for gas propelled guns allowing users to see where they hit their target.

Airsoft electric guns (AEGs) and gas blow back (GBB) guns use air pressure to fire a projectile. These guns come in a wide variety of styles, including handguns, shotguns, rifles and even automatic machine guns. These guns, however, fire a small, 6 mm plastic BB, that is typically too light to reliably mark at distances greater than 70 feet.

In addition, with the conventional 6 mm plastic BB, there is no way for users or military/law enforcement trainees to actually see where they hit their opponent. While attempts have been made to create a marking round that could be fired from an AEG or a GBB gun, these attempts have regularly failed to survive being fired through the AEG rifle or GBB pistol.

As can be seen, there is a need for a marking round that can be successfully fired from an AEG or a GBB gun while being adequate to reliably mark at long distances, such as distances greater than 70 feet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a marking pellet comprises a marking fill material; a shell encasing the marking fill material, wherein the shell has an outside diameter from about 5.7 mm to about 5.95 mm; and the marking pellet has a weight between about 0.11 gram and about 0.27 gram.

In another aspect of the present invention, a marking pellet comprises a marking fill material; a gelatin-based shell encasing the marking fill material, wherein the shell has an outside diameter from about 5.7 mm to about 5.95 mm; the marking pellet has a weight between about 0.11 gram and about 0.27 gram; the marking fill material is whetted or double mixed with an iron oxide pigment to permit the fill material to be absorbed by the iron oxide pigment; and the shell is formed of a mixture of gelatin, water and plasticizer/rubberizer.

In a further aspect of the present invention, a method for making a marking pellet comprises creating a gelatin base from water, gelatin and plasticizer/rubberizer; creating a fill material by adding a heavy weight starch to water or polyethylene glycol; whetting or double mixing an iron oxide pigment with a portion of the fill material to permit the fill material to be absorbed by the iron oxide pigment; adding the whetted or double mixed iron oxide pigment to the fill material to create a pigmented fill material; loading the gelatin base and the pigmented fill material to a soft gel encapsulation machine; injecting the pigmented fill material between two ribbons of the gelatin base without causing over pressurization to form pellets; and drying the pellets with vibration to keep the pellets moving during drying thereof, wherein the pellets have a weight from about 0.11 gram to about 0.27 gram.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a marking round according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a process diagram describing a method for making an airsoft marking round according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an oversized wedge that has larger than normal holes to allow more fill material to be injected between the gelatin ribbons without causing over pressurization.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a spherical pellet marking round for gas propelled guns, such as airsoft electric guns and gas blow back guns. The marking round allows a user or military/law enforcement trainees to actually when they hit their opponent. The marking round is heavier than conventional gas propelled gun rounds, allowing for more reliable breaking on target. The marking round has a hard, brittle shell and is sized for the gun or rifle type. This hard, brittle shell is designed to break like glass on the target. The marking round can include colored marking material, ultraviolet, infrared, forward looking infrared (FLIR) and luminous “glow-in-the-dark” shells for tracer versions. An oversized wedge can be used in production that allows for heavier weighted fill material to be used.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a marking round can include a hard, brittle shell 10 having a marking fill material 12 disposed therein. As mentioned above, an oversized wedge 14 can be used in the production of the marking round to allow a heavier weighted fill material to be used. The marking round of the present invention can have a weight that is increased by about 79% as compared to previous models. With the proper shell 10, the marking round of the present invention will break on target at greater than 120 feet.

Referring to FIG. 3, a first step is to make the fill material and gelatin. The gelatin can be made of water, gelatin and plasticizers/rubberizes. The gelatin color pigment is added. The fill material can be made with a heavy weight starch in water or polyethylene glycol. A process of whetting or double mixing an iron oxide pigment with the fill material can be carried out. The fill material can be absorbed by the pigment, giving a heavier pigment. This whetted pigment is then added to the fill material. An optional UV/IR additive is then added.

The pigmented fill material and the pigmented gelatin are then loaded into a soft gel encapsulation machine. The gelatin is then formed into two thin ribbons that are fed onto two drums with recesses.

The two ribbons of gelatin are run through recessed dies of the desired shape and size. The ribbon of gelatin is forced into the recessed areas of the die suing an oversized wedge in between the two gelatin ribbons, forcing the gelatin into the recesses, forming the pellet, cutting it from the gelatin ribbons. The oversized wedge has larger than normal holes to allow more fill material to be injected between the gelatin ribbons without causing over pressurization.

The pellet is then allowed to dry to lower the water content of the gelatin shell. The pellets are then transferred to drying trays for further drying. The drying process can use a vibration system to keep the markers moving while they dry, assuring uniform roundness during drying. Other conventional pellets can misshape under storage conditions.

The product is then placed in a soft gel polishing machine to remove any raised edges left on the seam. The pellet is then loaded into an inspection machine to insure proper sizing. The pellet then goes to a bagging machine that bags and seals the product for sale.

There are three elements that allow the marking round of the present invention to break reliably every time on soft and hard targets—size, hardness/brittleness and pellet weight. The pellet size is between 5.7 mm and 5.95 mm, allowing the pellet to function without jamming in the barrel of the gun. If the pellet is above 5.95 mm, it can break in the barrel.

If the pellet does not have a hard, brittle shell, it will deform in the magazine, causing a jam. Moreover, without a hard, brittle shell, the pellet can also not properly seat in the barrel, causing breakage.

A light-weight pellet will typically not break at longer distances (such as distances greater than 70 feet) and will not break on soft targets. The marking round of the present invention has a weight between about 0.11 gram and about 0.27 gram. The use of an oversized wedge having larger diameter fill holes (as compared to conventional wedges) allows use of a heavier fill material, giving a heavier pellet.

By combining these three elements—size, hardness/brittleness and pellet weight—a marking pellet is obtained that will break on target, even at long distances, and not break or jam in the magazine or barrel.

While the above describes using the marking rounds for training, such as military and law enforcement training, the marking rounds can also be used to mark trails, mark boundaries, as well as in hunting and recreational airsoft use.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A marking pellet comprising: a pigmented fill material comprising a marking fill material and a pigment, wherein the marking fill material and the pigment are double mixed, the double mix comprising a first mix to permit the fill material to be absorbed by the pigment and forming a whetted pigment, and a second mix of the whetted pigment and the fill material; and a shell encasing the pigmented fill material, wherein the shell has an outside diameter from about 5.7 mm to about 5.95 mm; and the marking pellet has a weight between about 0.11 gram and about 0.27 gram.
 2. The marking pellet of claim 1, wherein the pigment is an iron oxide pigment.
 3. The marking pellet of claim 1, wherein the shell is formed of a mixture of gelatin, water and plasticizer/rubberizer.
 4. The marking pellet of claim 3, wherein the shell includes a color or a self-luminous pigment.
 5. The marking pellet of claim 4, wherein the self-luminous pigment comprises at least one of an ultraviolet fill additive, an infrared fill additive and a forward looking infrared additive.
 6. A marking pellet comprising: a marking fill material; a gelatin-based shell encasing the marking fill material, wherein the shell has an outside diameter from about 5.7 mm to about 5.95 mm; the marking pellet has a weight between about 0.11 gram and about 0.27 gram; the marking fill material is whetted or double mixed with an iron oxide pigment to permit the fill material to be absorbed by the iron oxide pigment; and the shell is formed of a mixture of gelatin, water and plasticizer/rubberizer.
 7. A method for making a marking pellet comprising: creating a gelatin base from water, gelatin and plasticizer/rubberizer; creating a fill material by adding a heavy weight starch to water or polyethylene glycol; whetting or double mixing an iron oxide pigment with a portion of the fill material to permit the fill material to be absorbed by the iron oxide pigment; adding the whetted or double mixed iron oxide pigment to the fill material to create a pigmented fill material; loading the gelatin base and the pigmented fill material to a soft gel encapsulation machine; injecting the pigmented fill material between two ribbons of the gelatin base without causing over pressurization to form pellets; and drying the pellets with vibration to keep the pellets moving during drying thereof, wherein the pellets have a weight from about 0.11 gram to about 0.27 gram.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising polishing the pellets to remove any raised edges left on seams thereof.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising inspecting the pellets to ensure a size of the pellets is from about 5.7 mm to about 5.95 mm.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising adding an ultraviolet or an infrared additive to the fill material.
 11. The method of claim 7, further comprising adding a color or a self-luminous pigment to the gelatin base. 